Source: Chris Scott, MEATINGPLACE, 4/21/15


Nearly 10 percent of the hens in Iowa are scheduled to be destroyed in what USDA has confirmed is the nation’s largest outbreak of highly pathogenic avian flu (HPAI) in a single flock – egg-laying hens in this case – so far.

The H5N2 outbreak affecting 5.3 million hens at a commercial farm in Osceola County is only the second confirmed case in the Hawkeye State among the 13 U.S. states where bird flu has been confirmed since late 2014. Iowa has about 59 million hens that lay one in every five eggs consumed across the nation, according to the Sioux City Journal. Poultry industry experts also told the newspaper that it’s too early to predict the effect of the outbreaks on poultry and poultry product prices since the number of birds to be culled only represent about 1 percent of the hens nationwide.

“(The Osceola outbreak) may not have a direct effect on shell egg pricing, but any time you take production out of a marketplace, there’s likely to be some consequence,” Iowa Poultry Association Executive Director Randy Olson told the newspaper.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is enlisting the help of that state’s National Guard to help officials respond to the bird flu outbreaks in three counties, including managing quarantines and cleaning up culled birds. The request for a rotating crew of 14 Wisconsin National Guard personnel came from the state veterinarian through the Wisconsin Dept. of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP).

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